Automatic wind-drift compensation system for agricultural sprayers

ABSTRACT

An automatic wind-drift compensation system is provided for an agricultural sprayer. The system includes a control unit adapted to receive input data including wind speed and direction, vehicle speed and direction, and desired spray overlap. The control unit is programmed with a set of instructions for processing the data and generating output data. The output data facilitates steering of the sprayer through the field to achieve the desired spray overlap.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Agricultural spraying of soil nutrients, insecticides and pesticides iscommon, and typically involves the use of a boom-type sprayer pulledbehind a tractor. Recently, various navigation aid systems have beendeveloped with increased accuracy for steering the tractor through thefield on a desired path. Examples of such steering systems include theJohn Deere Parallel Tracking and AutoTrak system, IntigriNauticsAutoSteer products, and systems by Trimble, and Beeline.

However, none of these navigation aid systems which are currentlyavailable have the means or algorithmic concept to account for thewind-drift of the spray from the spray nozzles. Such wind-drift leads toan incorrect overlap of the sprayed solution from one pass to the next.The cross-path wind-drift can be significant and result inoverapplication or underapplication of the spray solution. Thewind-drift can also present environmental issues, for example, withexcessive spray overlap or when the spray drifts to undesired areas.

Accordingly, a primary objective of the present invention is theprovision of a system which automatically compensates for wind-drift foragricultural sprayers.

Another objective of the present invention is a system to facilitate thesteering of an agricultural sprayer through a field to achieve a desiredspray overlap.

Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a methodof automatically compensating for wind-drift during spraying by anagricultural sprayer.

Still another objective of the present invention is the provision of anagricultural sprayer having a weather station thereon for sensing windspeed and direction, and a control unit adapted to receive input dataregarding wind speed and direction, vehicle speed and direction, and thedesired spray overlap, and then generate output data to facilitatesteering of the sprayer through the field to achieve the desired sprayoverlap.

Another objective of the present invention is the provision of anagricultural sprayer with a control unit programmed with a set ofinstructions for processing input data and generating output data toaccommodate wind-drift.

Yet another objective of the present invention is the provision of anagricultural sprayer having a navigation aid system with a control unitoperatively connected thereto to facilitate steering of the agriculturalsprayer in consideration of wind-drift.

These and other objectives will become apparent from the followingdescription of the invention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The Automatic Wind-Drift Compensation System of the present invention isintended for use on an agricultural sprayer having a navigation aidsystem installed thereon. The system includes a control unit adapted toreceive input data, including wind speed, wind direction, vehicle speed,vehicle direction, and desired spray overlap. A set of instructions isprogrammed into the control unit for processing the input data and forgenerating output data in response to the input data. The output data isused to direct the sprayer, or facilitate steering of the sprayer,through the field so as to achieve the desired spray overlap. The systemmay also include a weather station on the sprayer for sensing the windspeed and wind direction. The sprayer height may also be one of theinput data processed by the control unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a tractor with an agricultural sprayerpositioned in a field being sprayed with a solution from the sprayer.

FIG. 2A is a simplified rear elevation view of the sprayer with themobile weather station according to the present invention and with nowind.

FIG. 2B is a view similar to FIG. 2A showing the spray in a windycondition.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged view taken along lines 3A—3A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3B is a view similar to FIG. 3A showing a spray pattern in moderatewind.

FIG. 3C is a view similar to FIG. 3A showing a spray pattern in a strongwind.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing the input data and outputdata for the control unit of the system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for the process of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A conventional tractor 10 is shown in FIG. 2 pulling an agriculturalsprayer 12 having a plurality of spray nozzles 14. The sprayer 12 isadapted to spray solution, such as soil nutrients, insecticides orpesticides from a reservoir (not shown) through the nozzles 14 onto thefield 16. Depending upon the nozzle 14, the spray pattern may be conicalor elliptical. Ideally, the spray pattern of adjacent nozzles 14 overlapone another, if at all, to an extent necessary to achieve a uniformapplication of the solution to the field 16. The sprayer 12 is alsoconventional and does not constitute a part of the present invention.

The present invention is directed towards a system which automaticallycompensates for wind-drift of the sprayed solution as the tractor 10 andsprayer 12 move through the field 16. More particularly, the systemincludes a control unit 18 which is preferably mounted in the cab of thetractor 10 for easy access by the operator of the tractor. A mobileweather station 20 is provided on the sprayer 12, preferably at a heightabove the cab of the tractor 10, so as to avoid or minimize groundturbulence, which can cause inaccurate readings. The weather station 20senses the wind speed and direction and generates corresponding signalsto the control unit 18. The control unit 18 may be hard wired to theweather station 20 via electrical wires 22. Alternatively, the operativeconnection between the control unit 18 and the weather station 20 may bewireless, in accordance with known technology.

The operator also inputs data into the control unit 18 such as thetractor speed, the tractor direction, the desired spray overlap, pathplan, the wind speed and direction, and the sprayer height. The controlunit 18 is programmed with a set of instructions, or an algorithm, forprocessing the input data 26 and generating output data 28, asrepresented in FIG. 4. The output data 28 allows the tractor 10, whichis equipped with a standard navigation aid system 24, to be steeredthrough the field 16 so as to achieve the desired spray overlap, whileaccommodating for wind-drift.

The method of the present invention allows for automatic compensationfor wind-drift during the spraying operation by the sprayer 12.According to the method, the input data 26 is generated regarding windspeed, wind direction, sprayer speed, sprayer direction, sprayer height,and desired spray overlap. This input data is sent to the control unit18, which then generates the output data 28 used for steering ordirecting the tractor 10 and the attached sprayer 12 through the fieldto achieve the desired spray overlap.

The process of the present invention is schematically shown in theflowchart of FIG. 5. Following the start up and initialization step, thevarious data regarding position, heading and speed, path plan, winddirection, wind speed, and sprayer height are input. Next, thecompensation for the spray pattern is calculated so as to meet the pathplan under the current weather conditions. Then, a check is made toassure that spraying under the current weather conditions is permissiblein light of local regulations. If not, a warning is displayed to theoperator. If local regulations do not preclude spraying, then the spraypattern composition is applied to the steering algorithm of the controlunit 18. The spray operation then begins, and continues with repeated orcontinuous re-evaluation of each of the above steps, other than start upand initialization.

Whereas the invention has been shown and described in connection withthe preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that anymodifications, substitutions, and additions may be made which are withinthe intended broad scope of the following claims. From the foregoing, itcan be seen that the present invention accomplishes at least all of thestated objectives.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic wind-drift compensation system foran agricultural sprayer, comprising: a control unit adapted to receiveinput data including wind speed, wind direction, vehicle speed, vehicledirection and desired spray overlap; and the control unit adapted togenerate output data based on the input data to facilitate steering ofthe sprayer through the field and to achieve the desired spray overlap.2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a mobile weather station onthe sprayer for sensing the wind speed and wind direction.
 3. The systemof claim 2 wherein the weather station is spaced above the ground tominimize ground turbulence.
 4. The system of claim 1 further comprisinga set of instructions programmed into the control unit for processingthe input data and generating the output data.
 5. The system of claim 1wherein the input data further includes height of the sprayer.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1 further comprising a navigation aid system operativelyconnected to the control unit.
 7. A method of automatically compensatingfor wind-drift during spraying by an agricultural sprayer, comprising:generating input data regarding wind speed, wind direction, sprayerspeed, sprayer directions, and desired spray overlap; sending the inputdata to a control unit; generating output data from the control unitbased on the input data; and steering the sprayer through the field inresponse to the output data to achieve the desired spray overlap.
 8. Themethod of claim 7 wherein the wind speed and wind direction input datais generated by a mobile weather station on the sprayer.
 9. The methodof claim 7 further comprising programming the control unit with a set ofinstructions for processing the input data and for generating the outputdata.
 10. The method of claim 7 further comprising generating input dataregarding sprayer height and sending the sprayer height data to thecontrol unit for processing.
 11. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising operatively connecting the control unit to a navigation aidsystem for steering the sprayer.
 12. A system to facilitate steering ofan agricultural sprayer through a field to achieve a desired overlap ofspray, comprising: input data including wind speed and direction, andsprayer speed and direction; a processor for processing the input dataand generating output data; and the output data being used to direct thesprayer for desired spray overlap.
 13. The system of claim 12 whereinthe system includes a weather station on the sprayer to sense wind speedand direction.
 14. The system of claim 13 wherein the weather stationgenerates the wind speed and direction input data.
 15. The system ofclaim 12 further comprising a set of instructions programmed into thecontrol unit for generating the output data based on the input data. 16.The system of claim 12 wherein the input data further includes sprayerheight.
 17. The system of claim 12 further comprising a navigationsystem operatively connected to the control unit.